Kissing Eden (6 page)

“Everyone, this is Eden.”

Two of the guys in the small circle turned around. I didn’t recognize them from behind without their hats, but I would know those smiles anywhere.

“We know this girl. Hey
, there, Carolina.” Connor loudly broadcast my new nickname. He and Pick each slung an arm around my shoulders and squeezed. Suddenly, I felt right at home.

“Wait, how do you know these guys?” Marin looked confused.

“I met them last night at Pete’s. They volunteered as my pool coaches.” I shrugged my shoulders.

Marin laughed. “I’m sure they did. Always so eager to help out.” She jabbed Pick in the ribs.

“Ouch, girl.” Releasing me from the hug, Pick grabbed Marin by the waist, threw her over his shoulder, and made a circle around the fire while she laughed hysterically, trying to free herself. I wasn’t sure how long everyone had known each other, but I could tell they were good friends.

“Pickford
McCoy, put me down!” Marin shrieked.

Everyone had turned to watch Marin and Pick circling the bonfire.
I could hear some of the guys cheering Pick on. Someone suggested he take her down to the water and toss her in.

“Didn’t think I’d get to see you again so soon.” Connor’s hand slid from my shoulder.

“Crazy small world I guess.” I turned away from the Pick and Marin spectacle.

“Yeah, crazy.” He shifted in the sand. “So, how do you know Marin?”

“It’s kind of funny. Remember how I told you the airlines lost my luggage?”

He nodded.

“Well, the other half of the nightmare story yesterday was that I lost my reservation at the Island Sun Resort. That’s where I met Marin. She was nice enough to recommend the Palm Palace and invite me tonight.”

“You’re staying at the Palm?” It sounded like Connor tripped on the words.

“I didn’t have much choice.”

Pick had finally placed Marin on her feet, and she was half-teasing, half-threatening him through a series of kisses.

“You want a drink or something?” Connor asked, holding up his red plastic cup.

Watching another couple make out had cast an awkward cloud on our conversation
, as if we had somehow been paired together. “Definitely. What’s in there?”

“All kinds of stuff.” He grinned. “Be right back.”
I lost track of the lanky boy as he disappeared into the crowd.

“I didn’t take you for the bonfire type.” The deep voice carried over my ear. I wasn’t prepared for the chills it sent down my back and arms.

I whipped around and tried to ground my senses. With his feet firmly buried in the sand, Grey stood inches from me. He was holding out a red cup for me.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I took the cup and a cautious sip. The drink tasted like a lime-flavored beer combination. It was refreshing.

“I don’t know. A girl like you seems like you’d rather be in a dance club.” He smirked as he held the cup to his lips.

I almost choked on my drink. That was the exact opposite of me. I liked to dance, but I hated the bass and the techno lights in the clubs.

“Maybe you should reserve your judgments until you get to know someone.” I didn’t like that he thought he had me all figured out, especially when those thoughts were wrong.

“Is that right?” It might have been the flames from the bonfire, but his eyes
flickered like he wanted to lure me into a confrontation.

I thought back to how he looked at me this afternoon in the room.
How his eyes followed every curve of my chest until he was almost speechless. Matching his teases, I stepped closer to him.

“It is.” I locked on his eyes
, feeling the rush of adrenaline surging through my body and gathering at my core.

“Eden, here you go
.” Connor walked up next to me with the red cup he promised. The second Grey appeared, I had forgotten about Connor and the drink.

The trance was broken
and so was the surge of flirty control radiating within me. I took a step back from Grey.

“Looks like Grey already got you a drink.”
A frown formed on Connor’s thin lips. If he had any confidence before Grey showed up, I could tell it was quickly fading, along with his usual pleasant demeanor.

Marin had already told me this was a party for locals, so I shouldn’t have been surprised the guys knew each other, but the encounter felt a little testosterone-charged.

“Are you two friends?” I asked Connor.

“We know each other.” Connor wasn’t volunteering much information and Grey didn’t respond.
The handyman had cast his gaze toward the dancers on the other side of the fire and seemed to ignore Connor’s existence.

Ok, now I was totally intrigued. “What, did you two date the same girl or something?” I giggled. That couldn’t be, but the longer the silence grew
, the more I thought I had just stuck my foot in my mouth.

“Connor’s not too happy with me these days
,” Grey volunteered.

“And why’s that?” I looked at Connor
, who was no longer his happy-go-lucky self.

“He dated my sister.” Connor’s words were flat.

“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say.

If Connor was holding some sort of grudge
against his sister’s ex, Grey was the likely cause of the breakup. Little waves of anger seared through my veins. I didn’t even know Connor’s sister, but I had recently developed a soft spot for girls on the receiving end of a bad breakup.

Grey didn’t seem to be bothered by Connor’s apparent animosity. I watched the two exchange hard glares.

“I’ll take the drink for her, man.” Grey reached for the cup.

Connor chuckled under his breath. “Why am I not surprised?” He shoved the drink in Grey’s hand and angled toward me.
“I’ll catch up with you later, Carolina. Pick needs something.” The wiry boy shook his head as he walked to join Pick and Marin.

“Well, that was awkward.” I suddenly wished I hadn’t been so nosey
although I did want to know Grey’s involvement in the breakup. I couldn’t help but feel Grey had somehow won a contest, as if he and Connor had locked antlers and his determination to claim me was just stronger.

“For someone who’s only been here one day, you’ve sure made a lot of friends.” Grey sipped from his cup. “Connor and Pick like you
, especially Connor.”

I wasn’t the only one who noticed Connor’s attention.
“Everyone has been so nice. Well,
most
everyone.”

“Yeah, I guess we haven’t gotten off on the best foot.”
Grey exhaled.

“That is a total understatement.”
Other than my brief dip into flirting with him, all of our exchanges had been charged with sparring.

“I have an idea. Wait here.” Before I could ask what he was doing, Grey walked into the darkest part of the beach
, away from the lights of the fire.

I stood for a few seconds
, searching the stretch of shoreline for a sign of where he had gone. I felt silly standing alone, but I didn’t want to move a muscle and miss out on Grey’s mysterious plan. I told myself I would give him ten more seconds before leaving to find Marin. A dark shadow emerged from the depths of the sand-covered horizon, and I saw Grey walking toward me, in steady strides.

“Hey, I’m Grey Lachlan.” He reached his hand toward mine.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Eden Brady.” His hand felt cool, probably from the beer.

“What brings you to our little part of Texas, Eden?” He was being surprisingly serious.

“I’m here on vacation. First time in Texas.” I played along with his charade.

“Really? You know what they say about Texas?” He smiled.

I had no idea what anyone said about Texas, but I was loving the transformation that had happened with Grey. I fought the nagging reminders in the back of my head that pointed out that I thought he was the biggest jerk in Texas just five minutes ago.

“No. What do they say?”
No matter what I thought, I couldn’t stop my flirting. It was like a survival instinct around him. The closer he moved toward me, the faster my pulse raced.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Everything is bigger and better in Texas.”

My knees went weak, and my heart pounded an extra beat in my chest. All I could do was hold myself steady with his gaze. The lock his eyes had on me kept me from faltering.

“Eden, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to leave you as soon as we got here. Pick gets a little carried away around me.” Marin emerged from the crowd, looking flushed and trying to catch her breath.

I needed help finding mine. Grey’s words and heated glances had robbed me of air and reason. “Yeah, I could tell.” I laughed and stole another glimpse of Grey over the safety of my cup.

Marin and Pick looked like they had fun together. I tried to remember a time when I had had that with Brett or with anyone really.

Marin tugged on my arm. “Let me introduce you to some of the other girls. Grey can’t hog you all night.” I saw her wink at him over my shoulder.

“I’m just trying to keep our guest entertained.” Grey smiled at Marin.

“Sure you are. Thanks for being such an excellent host, Mr. Lachlan. I’ll take it from here. You ready, Eden?” Marin twirled in my direction.

“Definitely. Lead the way.” I
wanted to turn around and reassure him I’d be back or tell him I’d find him later, but I didn’t want to embarrass either of us. What if I had read all the signals wrong?

“You’ll probably want this.” Grey handed me the cup he had claimed from Connor.

“Thanks.” I poured what was left in my first cup, and stacked the new one on top. I was almost to the point of walking backward when Marin spun me around.

“This way, girl
.” She giggled.

I followed Marin to the other side of the bonfire, where a few of her friends were sitting on coolers and logs turned into makeshift seats. It gave me a chance to clear my head of the Grey effect.

Marin gave me a quick rundown of the group. She and the other girls had grown up together around South Padre. They had gone to colleges all over the state, but made sure to journey back every March for spring break. They could work for the month in the bars or resorts on the island and make enough money to pay for their big summer trips. Last year, they made a pact to save up for a monthlong European excursion. They were reliving stories about some Italian boy one of them had met when I sat down.

“Tara, you just want us to go back to Italy so you can track down
what’s-his-name, Antonio.” The girls erupted in laughter.

“Who’s Antonio?” I had to ask.

Marin piped in. “Only the hottest Italian guy on the planet. We met him last summer in Florence. Tara spent the whole night flirting with him.” She pointed at a girl with short blond hair, styled in a pixie-cut.

“I was not the only one who flirted with him
,” Tara shot back. I could tell they were having fun teasing her.

“Yeah, Mindy went home with Giovanni and we didn’t even get her back until drinks the next night.” The whole group was shaking with laughter. “Did you even check his ID, Mindy?”
Marin teased her friend.

“Look, who’s talking, Marin
.” Tara giggled. “Aren’t you hooking up all over this island with one college-aged Pickford McCoy?”

Marin
laughed. “Hell yeah, I am. And don’t be so jealous. I’m not afraid to admit I like younger guys.” I saw her eyeing Pick across the dancing flames as if he was one big piece of candy. The girl was totally smitten.

Tara interrupted the trip down memory lane. “Sorry, Eden. This is probably completely boring for you. We just don’t get to see each other much anymore
, and when we get together, it can get a little crazy.”

“No, I love it. I think it’s great that you still get together even though you aren’t in college anymore. It gives me hope for my friends and me. I graduate in May and we’re all going in different directions.”

“That’s cool. What are your plans after college?” Mindy, the quietest of the group, asked. Her long dark hair was pulled to one side and trailed over her shoulder. It was hard to picture her being the one who disappeared with an Italian hottie.

I sipped on my lime drink.
All seniors dreaded this question. “I guess I’ll start looking for a job. I’m a business major. I’ve thought about grad school, but I kind of feel like I need a break from school. You know?” I couldn’t imagine jumping into an MBA program right now.

The girls all laughed in unison. “Oh
, we know. We’ve been there. We were sitting where you are a few years ago.”

“Ladies, are we going to get this party started or what?” Pick hit play on his phone
, and a country song I had never heard blasted across the circle. Within seconds, he had his arms around Marin, and they were shuffling through the sand to the music.

I watched as one by one the girls paired off and started dancing. It was hard not to feel like an actual bump on a log as the couples around me swayed and moved to the beat.